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As cameras and microphones edged in and the room grew quiet, University of Mississippi Medical Center transplant surgeon Christopher Anderson turned to face Karen Battle and her new liver.

“All right,” he said. “It’s your show.”

It was a spotlight moment 22 years in the making. When Battle, a lifelong south Jackson resident, got a new liver in March, it signaled new life not just for the 36-year-old mom, but for UMMC’s long-dormant liver transplant program.

In late February, Battle and two members of her transplant team – Anderson, associate professor of surgery and division chief of transplant and hepatobiliary surgery, and associate professor of medicine and hepatologist Dr. Brian Borg – shared their stories before Battle got to go home, just 10 days after surgery.

“I feel like I’ve won the lottery,” said Battle, sitting in a wheelchair, her hands folded and a soft smile on her face. “I feel like my life is a new adventure.”